Jack Lynn Cunningham

Jack Lynn Cunningham was born November 1, 1926, in Lindsay, Oklahoma to his parents William Elmer and Susie Marie Cunningham. He left this world for the next; Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at the age of 96. He passed away in the early morning at Parkwood Skilled Nursing facility in Bedford, Texas, where he had been bedfast for several months.

Jack attended school in Lindsay until his parents decided to move to Phoenix, Arizona to find work in the early 1940’s. Soon after settling in Phoenix, he and his mother, Susie joined a Baptist church where he met his future wife Mildred Genevieve Sutton (Millie). Jack and Millie married in March of 1944, and their son Jack Lynn Cunningham, Jr. was born in December of that year in Phoenix.

In February 1945 Jack entered the US Navy and was stationed in San Diego. Due to the ending of WW II, Jack was released in May 1946 and returned to Phoenix.

In 1949, Jack got a job with El Paso Natural Gas Company, and the family moved to Flagstaff, AZ where Jackie started school. Jack worked in the Materials Dept. for EPNG, making sure the pipelines had everything they needed as they moved natural gas from the Permian Basin to California.

Jack and Millie’s daughter, Linda Diane Cunningham (Goodgame), was born in 1951 in Phoenix.

After many years of moving around, following the pipelines being built by El Paso Natural Gas Co., the family moved to Jal, New Mexico in 1959, where they lived until 1973. Jack and Millie then moved to Odessa, Texas where they lived the rest of their lives. Jack retired from EPNG in 1985. Millie passed away in 2010 at the age of 82. Jack continued to live in Odessa until 2022 when he moved to a skilled nursing facility in the mid-cities of DFW.

In 1958, Jack became a member of the Masonic Lodge, first in Midland, then in Jal, then finally in Odessa, Fellowship Lodge 1385, where he served as Worshipful Master for a time. He was awarded the Golden Trowel Award in 2004, the highest honor given by a local lodge. In 2018 he was honored for 60 years of Masonic service.

In the 1990’s, Jack passed the tests required to become a licensed Ham Radio operator, which became a very important part of his life until the day he passed away. He spent many hours talking through a 60 ft. tower in his backyard to people all over the world. And even after he became bedridden, he talked to many friends in west Texas every day, with a handheld unit.  These friends helped make his life full and blessed until the end.

A memorial service will be held at Sunset Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home, at 6801 East Business 20, Odessa, TX 79762. Phone 432-362-2331. The service will take place in their chapel at 10:00 AM on Saturday, August 12, 2023. A Masonic graveside service will follow.